 | Stalking The Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons
Buy new: $11.90 / Used from: $6.95 By Euell Gibbons, the affable grandfather of the wild food movement. This is a good place to start, though the drawings are mediocre. Highly recommended as an introductory text on wild edibles.
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 | Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification by Thomas J. Elpel
Buy new: $18.00 / Used from: $17.99 An essential book that teaches you how to recognize the families of plants (both wild and otherwise). Highly recommended.
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 | The Neighborhood Forager: A Guide for the Wild Food Gourmet by Robert K. Handerson
Buy used from: $21.46 A well-illustrated and photo-filled recent book on the subject. Highly recommended.
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 | Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places by Steve Brill
Buy new: $15.83 / Used from: $11.91 Has a goofy title but is an excellent resource for finding and preparing wild edibles.
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 | A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America (Peterson Field Guide Series) by Lee Allen Peterson
Buy new: $12.35 / Used from: $10.89 A guide reference with some color plates, but short desciptions. Does not indicate how to prepare plants.
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 | Tom Brown's Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants (Field Guide) by Tom Brown
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $7.19 Concentrates on the most common wild edibles and has a more personal style, but is written by one of the USs foremost wilderness survival experts.
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 | Common Poisonous Plants and Mushrooms of North America by Nancy J. Turner
Buy used from: $6.75 Important to know what not to eat.
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 | The Backyard Orchardist: A Complete Guide to Growing Fruit Trees in the Home Garden by Stella Otto
Buy new: $11.53 / Used from: $9.94 A very thorough book that gives you an overview of all fruit trees to help you decide which to plant and how to care for them. Highly recommended.
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 | Edible Forest Gardens (2 volume set) by Dave Jacke
Buy new: $94.50 / Used from: $122.89 A somewhat expensive set of two books but one that helps you create a permanent agriculture.
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 | The Apple Grower: Guide for the Organic Orchardist by Michael Phillips
Buy new: $26.40 / Used from: $26.02 This seems like the standard recent book on the subject, and details methods for organic production, pest control, and even ideas for selling your apples for profit.
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 | Ecological Fruit Production in the North by Bart and Jean Richard Hall-beyer
Buy used from: $10.00 Lots of ideas for healthy, organic fruit production in temperate climates.
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 | The Maple Sugar Book: Together With Remarks on Pioneering As a Way of Living in the Twentieth Century (The Good Life Series) by Helen Nearing
Buy new: $21.37 / Used from: $15.99 Maple syrup is a labor-intensive but low-cost source of calories in the hungry months when youre running low on stored food but spring hasnt sprung yet. Before moving on to more technical and recent books, check out this one by the famous homesteaders, the Nearings.
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| The Woodland Steward: A Practical Guide to the Management of Small Private Forests by James R. Fazio
Buy used from: $17.75 You will need to manage your small woodlot, so add to this book to your list.
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 | The Woodlot Management Handbook: Making the Most of Your Wooded Property For Conservation, Income or Both by Stewart Hilts
Buy used from: $8.69 Another book on woodlot management.
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 | Pruning Made Easy: A Gardener's Visual Guide to When and How to Prune Everything, from Flowers to Trees (Storey's Gardening Skills Illustrated Series) by Lewis Hill
Buy new: $13.57 / Used from: $5.03 Pruning seems to be hard but just takes a good book and a little practice. This is a good general book.
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| Training and pruning apple and pear trees (PNW) by Robert L Stebbins
A smallish pamphlet but definitely worth the expense, as a lot of pruning expertise is packed into it. Highly recommended.
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